SOHO image of the Sun
Planetary Nebula, Cat's Eye
Cataclysmic Variable, Z Cha

Astronomy 122: Birth, Life, and Death of Stars

The Sun supplies (or supplied) much of the energy needed to power our lives and thus directly touches and impacts our lives. Further, in the future much more of our energy needs may be satisfied by physical mechanisms similar to those which power the Sun. In Astronomy 122, we review the properties of the Sun, study how the Sun and other stars work, and describe how they change as they move through their lives; stars are born, age, and die, that is they evolve with time. Equally as important as probing the theoretical properties of the Sun and stars, we also discuss the reliability of the database on which our understanding of the Sun and stars is built. This requires us to learn how the information we have on stars has been acquired, how reliable is that information, and the physical foundations needed to extract this information from observational data.

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Instructor: James N. Imamura
Office: 444 Willamette Hall
E-mail: imamura@uoregon.edu
Phone: 541-346-5212
Office Hours: 10:00-12:00, MW or by appointment

Course: ASTR 122: Birth, Life and Death of Stars; ASTR 122 is a science group course (>3)
Course CRN:
Text: Astronomy Today, 6th edition, Chaisson & McMillan
Class: 16:00-18:30, MTWR
Room: 100 Willamette Hall
Quarter: August 15, 2011 to September 8, 2011
Grading:
    Test 1: 50 points
    Test 2: 50 points
    Test 3: 50 points
    Test 4: 50 points

    An 8-10 page paper, with references, may be substituted for one exam.

Tests:
    Test 1: 18 August 2011; Review Sheet
    Test 2: 25 August 2011; Review Sheet. The exam in Review 2 is an old Test 1. The old Test 1 is appropriate for both Test 1 and Test 2 of this term.
    Test 3: 1 September 2011; Review Sheet
    Test 4: 8 September 2011; Review Sheet

Topic

Material

Reading

Date

Notes

1

Why Do We Study Stars?

assorted chapters

08/15/11

Topic 1

2

How Do We Study Stars?

Chapter 3

8/16/11

Topic 2

3

Properties of Stars

Chapter 4, & 17

8/17/11

Topic 3

4

Spectral Analysis: Lines and MK Spectral Classification

Chapter 4, & 17

8/22/11,8/23/11

Topic 4

5

Tying Things Together: H-R Diagram, Mass-Luminosity Relation, ...

Chapter 17

8/24/11

Topic 5

6

The Sun: Our Star

Chapter 16

8/29/11,8/30/11

Topic 6

7

Star Formation

Chapter 18,19

8/31/11,9/6/11

Topic 7

8

Stellar Evolution

Chapter 20,21

9/6/11,9/7/11

Topic 8

9

Type I and Type II Supernovas

Chapter 21

...

Topic 9